Most families develop their own Christmas traditions over time. Sometimes continuations of rituals created by previous generations or new ideas and behaviours that become embedded in a “it’s just what we do each year” sort of way.
Christmas stockings are something to which many people attach fond memories and long-held family rituals.
According to legend, the tradition of hanging Christmas stockings stems from the fourth century when St Nicholas heard the plight of a man who was lamenting the loss of his wife and that he was too poor to pay any dowry for his three daughters to marry. Saint Nick climbed down this man’s chimney and left gold coins in his daughters’ socks that had been hanging by the fire to dry.
These days, stocking fillers are seen as extra little gifts to supplement the main present and prolong the opening process. I suspect it now includes a lot more confectionery than in the past.
A friend recently told me that now she’s a grandmother, she likes to include a novelty toothbrush in her grandchild’s stocking to counter balance the impact of all the chocolate and sweets she knows they’re about to eat.
This is quite a recent phenomenon though and I was interested to find out how stocking fillers looked for previous generations and how their teeth would have fared compared to today. Not scientifically I’ve rated each decade according to my own view of how tooth-friendly the stocking fillers may have been, based on likely sugar content.
Victorians
Victorian stockings were very ornate as they were the children’s main present. Many of the gifts were homemade and daughters would help their mothers with sewing and needlework. Cassell’s Household Guide printed patterns and gave advice about personal gifts.
Victorian Top Ten Likely stocking fillers:
knitted shawls
embroidered handkerchiefs
jams, jellies, and preserves
home-made sweets such as peanut brittle, fudge or a candy cane
cloth-peg dolls
bright new pennies
marbles
skipping ropes
kites or cheap wooden toys
Lump of coal
Victorian Buddies Tooth friendly Rating: 8/10
The War Years
The appearance of factories during the Industrial Revolution meant that mass production of toys made them more accessible to middle and lower class families as they became much cheaper. However, all this changed during the war years as rationing and the unavailability of goods made life much more difficult.
Many children were evacuated to the countryside from the cities to avoid the danger of air raids which had a devastating effect on Christmas for many families
War time Top Ten Likely Stocking Fillers:
Scaled down Red Cross, RAF or naval uniform
Card games – included the very topical titled ‘Blackout’, and ‘Vacuation’
Childrens Annuals
Enid Blyton books
Disney soft toy
Model car
Building blocks
Marbles
Cut out dolls
Nuts
40’s Buddies Tooth Friendly Rating: 10/10!
Note: 1944-45: The Ministry of Food delighted everyone, particularly children, when it announced a Christmas treat – an extra 1 1/2 pounds of sugar, 8 pennyworth (3.5p) of meat, and half a pound of sweets.
1950s:
As the world recovered after the horror of war,attitudes towardsChristmas changed radically, gradually becoming the often over indulgent extravaganza we know and love today.
1950’s Top Ten Likely Stocking Fillers:
A new penny
A higher denomination coin if you were lucky
A sugar mouse
A smoker’s kit made from chocolate (I know!!)
Liquorice sweet
An orange
Some nuts
Colouring book
Colouring pencils
Lump of coal (persisted!)
50’s Buddies Tooth Friendly Rating: 6/10
Looking back from the 1960s many main gifts were far too big for a stocking and some children moved on to a pillow case whilst for others the stocking became a secondary gift filled with smaller, less expensive gifts. Most would have been shop bought as the popularity for hand-made gifts declined.
Now we’re a bit more up to date, how many of these top gifts do you remember?
1960’s
Top Ten Likely Stocking/Pillow case Fillers
Barbie doll
Etch-a-Sketch
Trolls
Action Man
Operation
Battleships
Parma violets
Black Jacks
Jelly Babies
Love Hearts
60’s Buddies Tooth Friendly Rating: 6/10
1970’s
Top Ten Likely Stocking/Pillow case Fillers
Weebles
Playpeople
Dungeons and Dragons
Connect Four
Star Wars Figures
Holly Hobby
Flying Saucers
Refreshers
Sherbert Fountains or Dib Dabs
Gold Rush gum
70’s Buddies Tooth Friendly Rating: 6/10
1980’s
Top Ten Likely Stocking/Pillow case Fillers
Rubiks cube
Lego
My Little Pony
Care Bears
Cabbage Patch Doll
Transformers
Pictionary
Caramac
Cadbury’s Selection Box
Drumsticks
80’s Buddies Tooth Friendly Rating: 7/10
1990’s
Top Ten Likely Stocking/Pillow case Fillers
Game Boy
Ninja Turtles
Furbeys
Pokemon
Tamagotchi
Teletubbies
Beanie Babies
Larger Selection Boxes
Toffo’s
Pick and Mix with foam shrimps
90’s Buddies Tooth Friendly Rating: 5/10
2000-12
Top Ten Likely Stocking Fillers
Dance mat
Go Go Pet Hamster
Talking Elmo
Iggle Piggle
Top Trumps
DVD (e.g. Toy Story)
Skylanders
Miniature chocolates
Special edition bars (e.g. Ltd edition Texas bar in 2005)
‘Share’ bags of chocolates
00’s Buddies Tooth Friendly Rating 5/10
So sweet treats have constantly been enjoyed throughout the decades. The key differences were during wartime when rationing restricted the availability of sugar and in recent times when confectionery has become less of a treat and more a part of our regular diet.
If, like my friend, you’re keen to help your young loved ones prevent damage to their teeth, consider giving a gift that promotes good oral hygiene habits.
With their distinctive character lids and tasty flavours to suit even the fussiest, Buddies Toothpaste make great stocking fillers www.buddiestoothpaste.com